The decline in marriage is doing terrible harm

PEOPLE should not be surprised by new official figures documenting the decline of marriage in this country.

PUBLISHED: 00:00, Thu, Apr 16, 2009

Given the massive financial incentives for single parenthood that exist in the welfare system what is more surprising is that some people are still entering the state of holy matrimony.

Most do so not only because they wish to express the full extent of their love for each other but also because they know that marriage is by far the most stable environment in which to bring up children.

Many single parents do a good job under difficult circumstances but the social research is beyond doubt: the children of married couples are far less likely to fail at school, end up in prison or become addicted to illegal drugs.

They are far more likely to go to university, to find and hold down employment and to enjoy stable relationships in their own lives.

Married couples are also far more likely than unmarried ones to stay together through tough times. So the State should be encouraging marriage, not penalising it – especially not in poor communities where young people are at a heightened risk of losing their way.

Conservative leader David Cameron has pledged to restore an incentive for marriage in the tax system.

That is welcome but so long as impoverished parents can pocket hundreds of pounds more in benefits by splitting up than they can by staying together, many children from disadvantaged backgrounds will be condemned to grow up in fractured families that offerthem insufficient discipline, structure or love.

And marriage will increasingly become the preserve of the middle classes.